Vertical rolling mills



July 22, 1952 J. w. SHEPERDSON ETAL 2,603,990

VERTICAL ROLLING MILLS Original Filed June 6, 945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS JOHN W SHEPERDSON JOSEPH M. QLMALLEY BY A . I 03 r S iimw Jilly 1952 J. w. SHEPERDSON EI'AL ,603,990

VERTICAL ROLLING MILLS Original Filed June 6, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 L INVEN To s JOHN W. SHEPEHDS'ON JOSEPH M. O'JVALLEY Patented July 22, l952 struction Company,

original application-June 0,: 1945, .Serial No.

Worcester, Mass.,- a cor? c 597,770, new Patent 'No. 2,491,286,: dated De-g,

cember,13, 1949. Dividedand this application" I Noyetnber 4, 1946, Serial No. 797,718

vertical rolling mill which is so constructed a's'to facilitate the changing of the rolls. w I i A, It is a further object of the invention to provide avertical rolling mill having a'poweriac'tuated mechanism ior adjusting one of theroll's horizontally, the rolls being readily changeable when de re a .4

-With these and other objects in view, as"'will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the'inv'ention resides .inth'el combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto, I 3 z Referring to the drawings illustrating one embodiment of the invention and in which-like reference numerals indicate like parts,

Fig. 1 is-a vertical section through a rolling mill, taken on the line I- -I of Fig. 2;

, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rolling mill;

Fig.3 a section taken o'n' the line 3- 3 of F gr .-,r V WK, Fjig. 4 is' a section taken o'r'vth'e line- 4:4 Fig.1; wane certain shield removed for clearness of illustration; and

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the rolling mill showing the roll housing being removed therefrom.

The embodiment illustrated comprises a roll housing Ill having upper and lower windows II in which are slidably mounted the roll neck bearings l2 of two vertical rolls [4. The housing It! is releasably secured to a base I 5 in known manner by means of slotted studs I1, caps l8 and wedges [9. The base I5 is carried by a foundation 2| shaped to provide a pit 22 within which;

is located a pinion housing 23 enclosing two roll pinions 25. These pinions are connectedby couplings 26 to upright spindles 21 which in turn are connected by couplings 29 to the lower ends of These couplings 26 and 29, and'the adjustment. The spindles 21 and the associated couplings maybe described as coupling spindles.

Means is provided to support the roll neck bearings l2 against the rolling pressure and to adjust these hearings horizontally within the w ndows u', so thatthe siz'fahd pe mon'bf the roll pass may be controlled. For this purpose the bearings |2 for one roll I 4 are engagedby two manually adjustable horizontal screws} llmounted 5 injthe'housing l0 and provided with suitable locknuts3l. i. r,

Thebearin gs l 2 ,for the other roll i4 are engaged by two horizontal screws 33 mounted in he'h s g l0 idar a ged to 'bero'i ysu ab po r tua d" m han Sm.; Th mechanism comprises a pair: ,of Worm gears, '35 rotatably mounted fone' above th'e other. in] a cas' ing 3'I, with their"axes; in horizontal alignment i h. he cr s 33- 73 th of .fl r mlesh wi qriziem l' w i '38 j edte we t em nd ar n edf ofheqd' v' "by; tri'q motor 9. (F g-J2 dr zgnia sh t eii n'd axially wfi' mt i ars 51 ih' u e li s 4. are provided td conn e these shafts ilwithj the ad ce th sc ew 3.3 ar lea a b l ceme d thereto' by any suitable means, such as thefsli'cl a le 1Q ve lll e i v sl e e awe h jacent'portions of 'thes'hafts and cire o ua e; ri ie wi en will? n Pins 45 'maiybejused tose' the sl'eevfes'to the nd ofjt crews: withd w ii e pi s. the, ler ma ib q eda b i th shaf 'disconnectthese shafts from the screws 33, ran i r Thi fwm'm i cssb t lift thehousin g- Ill without disturbing" the waiver actuated mechanism 34.

It is important to retain the spindles 21 and the couplings 29 in their proper positions by supwithdrawn from the couplings by lifting the housing [0. For this purpose suitable retaining devices 41 are adjustably mounted on the base 15 for engagement with the couplings. As best 40 shown in Fig. 4, these retainers 41 are forked to straddle the couplings 29, there being two oppositely disposed retainers, for each coupling. The

retainers 41 are pivotally and slidably mounted on two parallel horizontal rods '48 located at opbrackets secured to the base l5. These parts are so. constructed and arranged that the retainers 41' may be swung upwardly and outwardly to thepositions indicated by the broken lines in Figs. 3 and 4, so that they will not intertere with the couplings when the mill is inoperaion.

from. entering the pit=22.

corresponding f'gears. ."The ends of the shafts ill" porting them laterally when the rolls M are posite sidesjof' the couplings and carried byv Means is providedto prevent Water and. scalet For this purpose thebase I5 18, shaped to provide a trough having a 1 3 bottom wall which preferably slopes to one side in order that water may be discharged there r from to a suitable drain (not shown). This wall 5| is provided with a laterally elongated opening 52 through which the" spindles 21 extend,"this' opening'being of suflicie'nt size to permit removal of the spindles 21 and the lower couplings Z5. upwardly therethrough. The opening 52 is sur rounded by an upstanding flange 53.; ;A- ribor baflle 54 is provided on the upper surfaceof the wall 5| and spaced'upstream' from the opening 52, this rib being of arcuateshape in. plan *(as shown in Fig. 4) with its concave side toward the I i opening, in order to deflect the water stream lat erally toward opposite sides of the "opening and prevent direct impingement of waterf on the flange 53. The opening is covered by a plate or shield 56 having a depending marginal flange 5'! which overhangs the outer surfaces of the tive' seal to prevent water and scale from reaching the holes 58. s [The operation of the invention will now be apparent 'from the above. disclosure. The rolls I 1.4 will be driven from a suitable source of power through the. pinionsl 25, couplings 25, spindles 21. and couplings, 2 9, the retainers 41' resting in their outer positions as indicatedfby' the broken lines in Fig. 4. The roll adjusting screws 33 may be. actuated by them0t0r39 through theworm 38,. gears 35, clutches 42,,- shafts {H .andlsleeve's 44. To adjust one of the screws 33 independently of the othen'it is merely'necessary to disengage one of the clutches AL, Any water from the rolling operationwill Iallinto the trough 5| andjflow later ally. toffa drain, the plat -56 ',and the associated overlappmg flange construction preventing the waterlirom reaching the opening 52. When it becomes necessary to change rolls, the. operator will; i.thejorked retainers 4'1 inwardly to engage ,the.uppen'couplings 2'9, fa'sshown in Fig. 4, first moving the retainers along the rods, 48 if llecssary- The pins A5 willbe withdrawn from the screws 33, and the sleeves ldmdVd'alohgthe shafts-AI outlof engagement with these screws; 'Ihewedges l9 and-caps [8 will then be removed;

from the studs I l, whereupon the housing I0 and rolls I4 may be lifted from the base l5 by means of a suitable crane sling 63, as shown in Fig 5. ,Anothu lhousing, vvitha difierent set of rollsmay then be loweredf into place. During this changing of housings, the retainers 41 will hold the spindle couplings 29 and the spindles 21in their proper positions. The power actuated roll adjusting mechanism 34 does not need to be disturbed at all. The roll change can therefore be completed very rapidly, and the mill need be shut down only fora comparatively short time.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent'is: V j

.IQAVer-tidal rolling mill comprising a housing for V a pair of vertical rolls, two screws mounted on the housing and rotatable-about vertically spaced parallel horizontal axes for adjusting one of the rolls horizontally relative to the other roll, a motor-actuated mechanism having two vertically spaced horizontal shafts extending toward the said screws and respectively aligned therewith, means supporting the said mechanism mounted independently of the housing, and separate r ce leasable driving connections from the shaitsto the respective screws so constructed that upon release of said connections the housing may be lifted without disturbing. the motor-actuated,

mechanism, the motoractuated mechanism including a motor driven worm, two, worm gears located respectively above and below the worm and. meshing therewith, the gears being axial- Ly aligned with; the respective shaftsQand two separate independently operable clutches connecting the respectivegears to the corresponding shafts todrivethe sam e.

. I JOHN, .WLSI LEPERDSQNLQQ i JOSEEH QMhLLEY.

IREFERENCESVCITED The following re ference s are: of the file of this patent; UNITED STATES PATE TS Number 7 Name Date 287,008 Daniels Oct. 23, 1883 1,813,592 Wadsten July '7, 1931 1,891,579 Schreck Dec. 20, 1932 2,332,289 ,Zeitlin Oct, 19; l9 i3- 

